Soul Interaction: Chain! (ENG)

55 • Reckless Extermination

Life was being taken away from the living beings in the tower more and more quickly. The warriors were still on the first floor, and having started with fifty, now only ten could be counted. The demons had decreased to thirty. The one who had contributed the most to the slaughter was Ren herself. Herega had also killed a fair number of demons, but he had decided to moderate himself, as with every death, his unease grew for an unknown reason. Along with Ren, the most productive was another warrior armed with a spear, named Mishiter. The three of them alone had killed about two hundred and fifty demons. While Ren and Mishiter continued killing the remaining demons, Herega approached Eavelin.
«Are you okay?»
«Why?»
«...»
«I'm not ready for this.»
«Remember how much we've trained; we can't give up now.»
«It's really too much. Sorry, I can't do it.»
«What do you want to do? We can't get out of here unless we pass the tenth floor.»
«I don't know.»
The red-haired youth extended his hand to his friend, pulling her up. Adjusting his outfit and regaining full control of his body, he stood in front of the girl.
«I'll protect you. Stay behind me.» He said.

A loud metallic noise resounded in the hall. The demons had been completely slaughtered. Now, a strong tremor was felt on the floor, as if it were an earthquake. The light disappeared for a second, and the tremor stopped. When the light returned, the demons had reappeared.

Once again, Ren charged against the devils, and so did Mishiter. Herega, however, stood beside Eavelin. After every mortal wound he inflicted on an enemy, the youth clutched his chest; the unease he felt was much stronger than ever before. Nevertheless, he continued to fight.
«Young man, why do you resign yourself to the strain every time you kill a demon?» A strange man, with white hair asked, seeing him repeatedly suffering.
«It's nothing.» Herega replied, even though he knew it wasn't true, but he wouldn't have been able to explain his feelings; even he wasn't sure what was happening to him.
«If we let you die as well, we can end our cycle of life here. Why do you stand still in front of this girl instead of fighting of your own accord?» The man continued.
He seemed more interested in understanding Herega's motivations than defending his own life.
«I have a friend to protect; I can't leave her alone.» Herega replied, a little annoyed, thinking it was obvious what he was doing.
«Why did she enter this tower of despair if she doesn't even have the courage to fight?» The white-haired man went on.
His relaxed face almost made Herega uncomfortable.
«It's my fault; I dragged her here. As long as she doesn't feel ready, I'll stay by her side.» The sorcerer replied.
«Why, then, did you decide to enter here?» Herega continued.
He felt entitled to ask a few questions himself by now.
«What a question, I wanted to amuse myself a bit.» The man replied, maintaining his serious tone.
His lack of concern for the situation was quite annoying.
«If you're so confident in your abilities, then you all don't need my help.» Herega replied, gripping his sword firmly again.
«I never said I was up to this. Tell me, did you think so?» The man continued.
The youth realized that this discussion no longer made sense.
«Then why risk your life!?» He shouted at him.
Such boldness was unusual for him, having given up everything to embark on the unknown.
«Young man, do you really think life has a meaning? Do you think that if you live today and perish tomorrow, it changes anything? Life is just that. If you don't want to be a slave to it, then live it as you wish.» The man continued.
The sorcerer paused for a moment, taking a comfortable stance.
«But how can I live it if I risk it at the same time?»
Seeing the situation, living and surviving, at this moment, were not two reconcilable things.
«Tell me, young man, do you think you're living right now?»
«I...» He paused for a moment due to his intense unease, «If the demons keep dying this fast, my mind won't hold up.» He said, drawing on his last strength to stay standing.
«Are you okay... your name?» The man asked.
«Herega, Herega Lygarwen.» The youth replied.
«Are you feeling well, Mr. Lygarwen?»
«No, I have a problem. But I can't solve it, no one can, yet I made a promise to my friend, and I won't break it for anything in the world.» hH concluded.
«Anyway, my name is Essyl.» The other said.

Meanwhile, Eavelin remained behind the youth with a timid face and closed eyes, her hands resting on his shoulders. Ren and Mishiter, on the other hand, had killed seventy demons altogether and showed no signs of stopping.

«Tell me, Herega... Are you sure that what we're doing is the right path?» Eavelin suddenly said.
Herega looked at her, a bit confused and frightened.
«Do you really think this is our destiny? To die in a tower? Or, if we live here, to die somewhere else?»
Eavelin was a very clever girl, but talking about morals or philosophical themes was not usual for her. Herega understood that they had reached their breaking point.
«We won't die. I'll never regret bringing you with me. When we finish our adventure... we'll have beautiful memories together, and many new friends to share the rest of our lives with.» He said, trying to moderate his tone, as he could no longer maintain a firm voice.
«And if there's no rest to our lives?»
She didn't seem convinced; was she seriously considering that option?
«Don't even joke about that; we'll achieve what we desire.»

«Slayer.» A blond warrior addressed her.
«You can call me Ren.» She said as she prepared to leave; she wasn't done with her work yet.
«My name is Mishiter.» He replied.
The girl didn't seem to care, but that didn't matter to him.
«Why are you so relentless against the demons?» The blond warrior continued.
She didn't answer.
«Don't feel like talking? Don't you think killing demons over and over is boring? Where are you from?» He added.
Ren understood he wouldn't leave without at least one answer.
«From hell.» She said.
«Worse than this?»
«If you had lived what I've lived, you wouldn't be alive right now.» Ren replied.
In truth, she couldn't know that, but her words were no longer guided by reason.
«Have you been carrying this grudge for long?» He ventured, speaking about a topic that was putting her in terrible discomfort.
«Stop talking about it as if it's nothing,» She concluded.

Some tears began to blur the girl's vision as she continued the slaughter:
«To hell with all the weak ones; those who live aren't the ones who want to, but the strong. All I have to prove is that I won't die.»
Mishiter smirked and stopped to watch Ren kill more demons.
«That girl... I wonder what's going through her head... What is Herega doing? Why is he standing there? Well, better that way. He mustn't die, otherwise... I need to be more careful. There are only seven of us left, and from what I've gathered, that certain Essyl isn't on the same level as the others. From the seventh floor onward, it'll be a problem.» Mishiter thought.